Have you ever felt like you were “stuck” in a house that doesn’t function well for your family, or that you feel everything needs changing? You feel frustrated, overwhelmed, or even discouraged at where to start to make changes that could mean you might like your home… Maybe not all, but I imagine some part of this picture resonates with you, and there is hope! There are things you can do, and changes you can make that will help you not only like, but love the home you have.
This photo taken of our home this past fall makes me smile (do you see the Amazon delivery?). It is the view I have from my new office area and the warm evening lighting and beautiful fall leaves caught my eye. It’s a simple brick home with some cool features, and we love it. It’s also an older home and needs some work. Did you notice the missing bricks under the window? That entire section needs to be replaced. If you’ve owned an older home you are familiar with that unending punch list of repairs… but that’s OK, we love our home.
When we bought this home it came with some cool features and some not-so-cool features ~ like the 80s wallpaper. But I was determined to infuse our home with the English country house style that I dearly love. So I did what I could. The more you invest in your home (cleaning, organizing, repairing, improving), the more emotionally connected and satisfied you’ll become, and the more your home will give back to you, your family, and your friends. If you’ve been around the blog/channel awhile, you’ll have heard and watched the removal of the wallpaper and the story of the English rolled-arm sofa, which together have made a marked difference in how cozy and enjoyable this room is now!
When you love the home you have and make it the best it can be, it will inspire your life in unexpected ways.
I didn’t know when first picking up the spice rack in the photo above from the thrift store that this would be the first of three iterations of our kitchen. I just knew it gave us a spot to store spices so they wouldn’t fall behind the stove!
When browsing an antique shop one day Matt & I came across this mirrored shelf. It was nicer than the previous spice rack and the shelf was wide enough to hold the Spode spice jars ~ now this was pretty! Plus the mirror made the kitchen seem bigger and brighter. I was thrilled with this small improvement and had no idea what the Lord had in mind for our kitchen years later…
This kitchen still amazes me. We never tire of it and have made so many wonderful memories cooking together, and sharing meals with friends. The wait, and going through the process were worth it!
Still…I can get frustrated with how long the process can take! If you get antsy at times, like I do, then here are some encouraging thoughts:
CHANGE YOUR HOME ~ TAKE ACTION!
- Taking action through cleaning, de-cluttering, and organizing is within your control! By focusing on what you can change it eases the discipline of waiting. Taking action is within your control, it makes waiting easier.
- Taking action brings hope. You know that feeling when you stand back from an area that was driving you crazy and it’s better?! You may have improved the function by simplifying the things stored there, or you may have simply repainted a small wall. But the improvement breathes life into your home-loving heart?!
- Changing your home in simple ways gives you new ideas. Sometimes we can try new things without buying anything, or remodeling. Rearrange the furniture. Hang the art somewhere different. Rethink the purpose of a room or the corner of a room. Sometimes, these little (or big) experiments will solve problems in creative ways leading to a delightfully more functional and enjoyable home.
- This is a lead-on result from number three above. While trying things out you may discover a new way of doing things, a new way of living that changes your furniture selection, your room layout, or your color scheme. This is such a fun part of your home-making journey. You are literally “practicing” the best way to live in your home!
- Through practicing new, better ways to live in your home you will develop your design muscle. This is a natural result of your efforts. If you “play with your house,” you will learn more about what you like, what works for entertaining, and how you and your family like to live.
- Taking action in all these ways will save you money. Doing what you can with what you have and experimenting in your home will give you the data you need to make well-informed design decisions. This will reduce the guessing and mistakes you may have had going into a design decision in a room without having “practiced” how you and your family like to live.
There is something incredibly rewarding about transforming a space with your own hands. Love your home by choosing to work within your limitations be that time, money, or ability.
Do it for others. Do it for you. Do it for the house, but DO it!
